Sunday, 3 February 2008

Congress tarts

I was driven half insane by the smell of these cooking. They contain practically all the things I would pick for my “last supper” namely coconut, almond, vanilla, pastry and jam. If I could have snuck custard in there somehow I would die happy! The Caked Crusader’s Ma (CCM) had a great idea – she thought that they would be lovely warmed for a dessert and served with custard. The CCM then got rather excited at the thought of one large congress tart and had to calm herself down!

Here’s the inside view:

Google has let me down as I was trying to find out how they got their name and all I could find were lots of lame jokes about American politics...I’m sure you get the drift. So if anyone knows, I am genuinely interested to learn how they acquired the name.

This could be one of those “oh, just me then” moments, but don’t you love it when you open a box of eggs and find a feather attached to one of the eggs?

I think it’s important to point out two things about these little beauties. Firstly, they are quite sweet – don’t get me wrong – not in a bad way. If you like a bakewell tart then you’ll be fine with these. Secondly, when I make them again I will put a smidgen more jam in the base. I was careful this time as I didn’t want jam bubbling up the sides of the tart but I think they could take a little more! Here’s how much jam I put in:

These are all a coconut lover could want – juicier than a macaroon, more flavoursome than coconut ice, more substantial than a Bounty bar. In other words: heaven!

Unusually for me, I used the pastry recipe rather than my trusty shortcrust. What intrigued me was the use of the whole egg, not just the yolk and the inclusion of vanilla. It’s a nice pastry – quite biscuity in some ways and a dream to roll out.

The raw filling isn’t the most attractive you’ll ever see; it looks a bit like porridge:

The tarts start to get more appealing by the time they are assembled and ready for the oven:

And by the time they come out of the oven they are practically Miss World’s of the cake kingdom!

- First make the pastry. Rub the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.- Stir in the sugar then make a well in the centre for the egg and vanilla.- Using a knife, bring the mixture together. Mine came together beautifully, but if the pastry looks too crumbly sprinkle some water on to it. Not too much – just enough to bring together.- Shape the dough into a ball and sit it on a sheet of clingfilm. Flatten slightly into a disc then wrap up and chill for 30 minutes.- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.- Grease two 12 hole patty tins. This recipe will make 18 tarts.- Roll the pastry out between two sheets of baking paper and using a round cutter slightly bigger than the patty hole, cut out circles of pastry. You’re aiming for the pastry to be thin but not see-through. About 4mm thick.- Once all the pastry cases are cut out and sitting in the patty tins, put the tins in the fridge for about 10 minutes. This will limit shrinkage on cooking.- Now make the tart filling. In a bowl whisk the egg whites until they are frothy but still liquid.- In a separate bowl mix the sugar, ground almonds, rice flour or semolina, and cinnamon.- Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites then add 50g only of the desiccated coconut.- Remove the patty tins from the fridge and spoon a little jam into the base of each. Don’t spread it out – leave it as a little mound in the centre . This will stop the jam from seeping out. (Note my photo above of the jam – next time, I will use more than this)- Spoon the coconut filling on top, evenly across how ever many tarts you have.- Sprinkle the remaining 20g of coconut on top.- Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. The skewer test won’t work. Mine took 25 minutes.- Allow to cool before removing from tin.- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.- Eat.

Never had any coconut in these, also, I put less filling in, and a cross of shortcake dough on top... but they are delicious. :-)It's the Congress of Vienna 1814, The Dancing Congress, and as Vienna was known for the pastries, they developed this to commemorate the congress.

Hello, just discovered your site and can't wait to make something. I was searching as my husband's 94 year old Grandma has just gone into a nursing home and keeps talking about Congress Tarts. I am in Hertfordshire and she is in Devon. Do you think if I make them and post them they would ever arrive in one piece???

Great site! Love this recipe but this is not a congress tart.Congress Tarts are a traditional Cornish recipe we grew up on. However, they do not have coconut in them. They are pastry base with jam in bottom and almond sponge very much like a Bakewell.

Our Cornish Congress tarts had no coconut, and they had a pastry cross. Looking back through old Cornish recipes I did find one recipe with coconut.I like the sound of it though, going to make some later with my new found vinegar pastry recipe. First though going to browse through your site and pick up some recipes.I live in Australia now, lots of recipes have been changed so much, probably because ingredients were hard to come by down here!

Read this great novel!

Look at this great website

Follow my ambitious attempt to find a recipe for a cake, biscuit, pie or tart for every single one of the 39 traditional English counties!

The Caked Crusader and Boy Wonder

Cartoon by Cakeyboi

About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

This site will catalogue cakes I have unleashed unto the world and my thoughts thereon.

By the way, I will never recommend how many portions you should get out of a cake because we’re all different. Plus, it will be very embarrassing when I say it serves 4 and you get 20 portions out of it.

WARNING: Too much time spent on this blog may cause hunger.

Privacy notice

The Caked Crusader blog does not share personal information with third-parties, nor does it store or use information collected about your visit to the site other than to analyse content performance. I am not responsible for the republishing of the blog’s content on other websites or media without my permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice.

Cake Achievement in Film and Television Arts (CAFTA)

Have you seen a cake in a film or tv show that deserves recognition? Has a cupcake upstaged a beefcake?

If so, please let me know and that cake could win a coveted CAFTA award. Email me your suggestions, with a photo of the cake if possible.

About Me

I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
I spend far too much time watching Spongebob Squarepants and would love to try a Krabby Patty...I know, I know - it's not real.